This is also a time-capsule post, i.e. things may not be happening exactly to the scenario as described below. So, to continue with the story…

The plane has finally touched down at the Manchester Airport. It was so early in the morning and I’m feeling pretty chilly. Luckily I have this long black coat which I brought onboard the plane with me, which can come in handy.

After that, I skipped around the airport just to check for the next departure time (to Dublin). It was about 3 hours later; hence, the check-in counter won’t be open at the moment, thus the first thing to do now is to get myself a hot cup of coffee and some breakfast to go along with it!

October 25, 2008 · Posted in Thesis · Comments Off on Onboard the Flight to Manchester

I said that in the earlier post that it was going to be the final post; well, it’s true. This is a time-capsule post created ahead of time, which means I have already made this post beforehand, but left the system to publish it at a designated time. So, where am I now?

Currently, I am sitting right inside Singapore Airlines, awaiting for the flight to take off. It is pretty cosy as it is a midnight flight. I’m uncertain if they are going serve dinner later, chances are it’s very likely. The time is 23:55pm (+8hrs GMT) and the plane is approaching the runway.

The next time when I wake up is going to be in Manchester, at 5:45am (GMT), which is roughly 2pm in Singapore. I need to check the time in Singapore again, because of the day-light saving in Europe, which can be really confusing at times.

In a few hours’ time, I will be departing for a 13-hour long flight to Europe to attend my graduation ceremony. In a way, I am both excited and exhausted for the trip. I have not done any packing until today, the day of departure! I guess it’s just me as I have done the same for all the years when I went overseas.

Nevertheless, I’m glad that I managed to finish my packing, leaving only a few bits and pieces to be clear just before leaving the house for the airport. For some reasons, I just felt I have missed out something important, but I do not know what that is – it’s a feeling. I have my list for packing and every items have been ticked, I just don’t know what is that “thing”. Perhaps, it’s just my suspicion.

July 17, 2008 · Posted in Thesis · Comments Off on I Have Submitted My Thesis

Last Tuesday, I have finally submitted my thesis to the examiners! It certainly took me slightly more than a year, since I had my viva. Well, but it’s less than a year spent to edit and restructure the thesis layout; simply because the reply from the examiners came about a month or so later.

The journey to accomplish the final version of the thesis is definitely not easy. It took me, and especially my professor, a lot of effort to reorganise the entire manuscript; not to mention additional research and experiment carried out to prove certain theorems and remarks.

I am having this problem with Microsoft Word on numbering. In my thesis, I used AutoNumLgl command to number the equations. However, when I shifted to another laptop, those numbering gave some kind of an issue, that is with trailing periods, or rather dots (.) showing up after the numbers.

Apparently, I do not need those dots, and according to the references and advices obtained from the web, it stated that by adding a “\e” switch to the command {AUTONUMLGL} will help remove the dots. Unfortunately, it is not so in my case.

June 21, 2008 · Posted in Thesis · Comments Off on Dinner at Ya Kun in City Hall

Sitting right inside Ya Kun restaurant in City Hall, I have just finished my eggs and “kaya” toasts. This afternoon I went to the Esplanade to freshen myself up, after I woke up at half past 12 in the afternoon. I slept quite late night, because of having to finish up some final revision in my thesis.

Right now, I have accomplished two-third of the revision and with one-third remaining. I could have finished this earlier, not because of the fact that this last part is a document that is created with Word 2007, a version that my current laptop is not able to open.

I had difficulty trying to find an Internet connection and download the Office 2007 Compatibility Pack; it was only until now that I managed to get hold of one good connection, right inside Ya Kun. It was pretty bad at the Esplanade, despite the signal was strong. The DNS could not be updated and the IP address was not assigned to my laptop.

So, trying to cut down on high-cholestrol food, I’ve decided to choose Ya Kun for dinner, despite it’s not that healthy. Nonetheless, it’s still fine for a small eater like me.

Until all hopes seem to fade, a light appears to shine bright from afar. After one month of waiting, I have finally received a reply my professor. The feeling of his name appearing in my Inbox completely changed perspective of how my long years of research might have resulted with.

In conjunction with the replies, there are also attachments that contain essential corrections of the reviews and some thesis chapters. I’ll be putting this as the main priority to ensure this does not get delayed any further.